Quarterback Jon Kitna takes some throws of the ball at the end of the morning session of the Dallas Cowboys training camp at the Alamodome on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011. Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Quarterback Jon Kitna takes some throws of the ball at the end of the morning session of the Dallas Cowboys training camp at the Alamodome on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011. Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Photo: KIN MAN HUI, --

Image 4 of 27

Tackle Tyron Smith (from) receives extra attention from offensive line coach Hudson Houck at the end of the morning session of the Dallas Cowboys training camp at the Alamodome on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011. Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Tackle Tyron Smith (from) receives extra attention from offensive line coach Hudson Houck at the end of the morning session of the Dallas Cowboys training camp at the Alamodome on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011. Kin

Running back Felix Jones makes a catch during drills at the afternoon session of the Dallas Cowboys training camp at the Alamodome on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011. Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Running back Felix Jones makes a catch during drills at the afternoon session of the Dallas Cowboys training camp at the Alamodome on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011. Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Photo: KIN MAN HUI, --

Image 7 of 27

Running back Felix Jones (left) runs with the ball from a hand off by quarterback Tony Romo (09) during the morning session of the Dallas Cowboys training camp at the Alamodome on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011. Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Running back Felix Jones (left) runs with the ball from a hand off by quarterback Tony Romo (09) during the morning session of the Dallas Cowboys training camp at the Alamodome on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011. Kin

Former Cowboys special teams coach Joe Avezzano (right) chats with offensive line coach Hudson Houck after the morning session of the Dallas Cowboys training camp at the Alamodome on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011. Kin

Tight end Jason Witten (left) works with tight ends coach John Garrett at the end of the morning session of the Dallas Cowboys training camp at the Alamodome on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011. Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Receiver Miles Austin (19) gets pushed out of bounds by cornerback Orlando Scandrick (32) during the afternoon session of the Dallas Cowboys training camp at the Alamodome on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011. Kin Man

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was surrounded by legends Saturday at the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Canton, Ohio.

That won't be the case when Jones returns this week to the Alamodome, but he firmly believes there's more than enough talent on the roster for the Cowboys to improve significantly over last season's underachieving 6-10 disaster.

“I'm pretty happy where we are. ... I do think we are turning it around,” Jones said.

He's not alone in voicing that opinion.

“We weren't a 6-10 team last year, but that's what the record said,” linebacker DeMarcus Ware said. “I know we can really improve from that 6-10, especially with the new improvements we have on defense. And we think the offense is going to keep rolling. There's not going to be another 6-10 season.”

But there are plenty of skeptics who think Dallas will again disappoint. Primarily, they wonder how the defense will be better when it returns 10 of 11 starters from a unit that yielded a franchise-record 436 points last season.

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Other arguments against the Cowboys emerging as a strong playoff contender center on an offensive line surrounded by question marks, starting with whether first-round right tackle Tyron Smith is ready to handle a starting job.

The Cowboys, of course, have answers for the doubters. Tell the players and Jones the defense can't possibly be dominating and they say brash, new coordinator Rob Ryan and his aggressive, complex version of the 3-4 scheme will solve all their problems.

“It's the same players, but not the same mentality,” Ware said. “It's a different motivation and almost like a rebirth. We really like this new defense with Coach Ryan, and we feel like we have a chance to turn it around.”

The company line states the defense was too predictable under Wade Phillips last season and that Ryan's plethora of pre-snap movement and other wrinkles will keep the unit from stumbling as it did during last year's 1-7 start.

Dallas is also counting on Ryan's bravado to supply the defense with a swagger it lacked under the low-key Phillips.

“Rob is making a real impression as far as his coaching style and frankly his philosophy,” Jones said.

But can a new coordinator really make that big of a difference?

“Again, I didn't want to talk about last year, so I'm not going to,” Ryan said.

In general, though?

“In general, I think (coordinators) can make a hell of a difference,” Ryan said. “If you get a great one, hell, maybe that's like getting a great player.”

Another reason the Cowboys like their defense: The same 10 returning starters that flopped last season were also starters in 2009 when the club had one of the league's top units. Dallas won the NFC East that season with an 11-5 record, recorded consecutive shutouts for the first time in franchise history and claimed its first playoff victory in 13 years.

“We've got defensive personnel that can play at a level you might say we expected them to play at last year,” Jones said.

Optimism also abounds on offense, mainly because quarterback Tony Romo is back after missing the last 10 games of 2010 with a broken collarbone.

But what good is Romo if he's running for his life? It's a legitimate question considering center Andre Gurode has yet to practice because of knee surgery, right guard Montrae Holland is what ex-Cowboys coach Bill Parcells might call “just a guy” and the 20-year-old Smith has struggled to contain Ware and other veterans.

“If you are playing tackle in this league and you have to block those rushers he has had to block, you are going to get beat a lot,” coach Jason Garrett said. “So how does he respond? We think he's responded well to those adversities. He has a long way to go. He has so much to learn about run blocking and pass blocking and offensive and defensive schemes, but he's coming at it the right way each and every day.”

The draft wasn't the only avenue the Cowboys took to bolster their roster.

Jones believes they were also winners in free agency, primarily because they retained left tackle Doug Free and right guard Kyle Kosier. Re-signing safety Gerald Sensabaugh and end Marcus Spears and landing free-agent safety Abe Elam didn't generate much buzz, but Garrett and Jones consider those significant transactions.

“We like the guys we have on our team,” Garrett said. “There was some concern because a number of guys were free agents, and we didn't know if we were going to compete with some other teams financially to keep them. Fortunately, we were able to do that at a few different spots.”

Said Jones: “We are improved from where we were last year. Apart from this sobering reality of what happened to us (in 2010), I feel good.”